one advantage to installing zerks is that it keeps any foreign matter out of the holes, not a big deal but it also helps to push the old grease out and replace it with fresh, you get more pressure from a grease gun than using a needle tip. I've "fixed" several presses for friends by forcing new grease in, the old stuff was very hard, even had to use a hydraulic press on one to get the shaft out of the toggle, you could not begin to pull the handle.